NY prosecutor to fund rape kit testing nationally

NEW YORK (AP) — Evidence from up to 70,000 rape cases nationwide will get long-awaited DNA testing, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. announced Wednesday as he pledged as much as $35 million to help eliminate a backlog that has long troubled authorities, victims and lawmakers.

Experts estimate hundreds of thousands of rape kits — swabs and specimens gathered during examinations of victims — remain to be tested for genetic evidence that could identify, or eliminate, a suspect. Some kits have languished for decades.

Rape victims deserve to see that the extensive exams weren't for nothing, Vance said.

Actress Mariska Hargitay, left, hugs rape victim and founder of Natasha's Justice Project, Natasha Alexenko, during a news conference in which Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. announced that he pledged as much as $35 million to help eliminate a backlog of untested rape kits nationwide that has long troubled authorities, victims and lawmakers, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

"We want them to know that we, as a nation, are doing everything in our power to bring justice to them," he said at a news conference with advocates including "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" star Mariska Hargitay.

The backlog is largely a factor of the $500-to-$1,000-per-kit cost of testing, but advocates feel it also signals that sex crimes haven't always been enforcement priorities.

"To victims, it says, 'You don't matter. What happened to you doesn't matter.' And to criminals, it says, 'What you did doesn't matter,'" said Hargitay, whose Joyful Heart Foundation helps sex crime victims.

The money comes from the DA's share of an $8.8 billion settlement with French bank BNP Paribas over allegations of violating U.S. economic sanctions by processing transactions for clients in blacklisted countries.

New York state communities will get priority in applying for the funding, which also will go to auditing how big backlogs are. Advocates hope it will build momentum to secure more money, including $41 million President Barack Obama has proposed; Congress is weighing it. An existing federal law also finances DNA testing to reduce evidence backlogs, but it's not just for sex crimes. Some states and private donors also have pitched in.

New York City tackled a 17,000-case backlog between 2000 and 2003. The results spurred more than 200 prosecutions citywide, Vance said.

One provided a long-sought answer for Natasha Alexenko, who was a college student when she was raped and robbed at gunpoint in her Manhattan apartment building in 1993. Tested a decade later, her rape kit then was matched to a suspect in 2007. He was convicted and is serving a 44-to-107-year sentence.

Other jurisdictions have been grappling with big backlogs. More than 12,000 kits went untested for years in Memphis, Tennessee, which is now working on them and facing a lawsuit from rape victims. In Detroit, prosecutors discovered more than 11,000 rape kits in an abandoned police warehouse in 2009; testing there so far has yielded 14 convictions.

Cleveland prosecutors have sent their entire 4,700-kit backlog for testing, so far yielding over 200 indictments and 50 convictions.

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Reach Jennifer Peltz on Twitter @ jennpeltz.

Actress Mariska Hargitay, left, and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. listen as Detroit prosecutor Kym Worthy talks about Vance's pledge of $35 million in funding to help eliminate a nationwide backlog of rape kit testing, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014, in New York. Evidence from up to 70,000 rape cases nationwide will get long-awaited DNA testing. Experts estimate hundreds of thousands of rape kits ¿ swabs and specimens gathered during exams victims undergo after attacks ¿ remain to be tested for genetic evidence that could identify or eliminate a suspect. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. talks about the $35 million he is pledging in funding to eliminate the backlog of untested rape kits in New York City, the state and across the country during a news conference, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014, in New York. Evidence from up to 70,000 rape cases nationwide will get long-awaited DNA testing. Experts estimate hundreds of thousands of rape kits ¿ swabs and specimens gathered during exams victims undergo after attacks ¿ remain to be tested for genetic evidence that could identify or eliminate a suspect. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Detroit Prosecutor Kym Worthy talks about the $35 million pledged by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. to help eliminate a nationwide backlog in testing rape kits during a news conference, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014, in New York. More than 11,000 rape kits containing DNA and other evidence were recovered in 2009 from a Detroit police storage facility. Worthy's office has been wading through the kits. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Actress Mariska Hargitay, left, and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. listen as Detroit prosecutor Kym Worthy talks about Vance's pledge of $35 million in funding to help eliminate a nationwide backlog of rape kit testing, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014, in New York. Evidence from up to 70,000 rape cases nationwide will get long-awaited DNA testing. Experts estimate hundreds of thousands of rape kits ¿ swabs and specimens gathered during exams victims undergo after attacks ¿ remain to be tested for genetic evidence that could identify or eliminate a suspect. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. talks about the $35 million he is pledging in funding to eliminate the backlog of untested rape kits in New York City, the state and across the country during a news conference, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014, in New York. Evidence from up to 70,000 rape cases nationwide will get long-awaited DNA testing. Experts estimate hundreds of thousands of rape kits ¿ swabs and specimens gathered during exams victims undergo after attacks ¿ remain to be tested for genetic evidence that could identify or eliminate a suspect. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)